Huselius paces Columbus over Oilers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kristian Huselius played a huge role with a goal and added three assists, as the Columbus Blue Jackets held on for a 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Nationwide Arena.

Antoine Vermette sealed the victory with an empty-net tally and dished out two assists for Columbus, which was coming off a 5-1 loss to St. Louis on Saturday. Jakub Voracek, Chris Clark and Marc Methot each registered a goal for the Blue Jackets, who have won three of their last four.

Steve Mason stopped 29-of-32 shots and improved to 3-1 lifetime against Edmonton.

Robert Nilsson and Aaron Johnson each picked up a goal and a helper, while Dustin Penner lit the lamp for the Oilers, who have dropped four straight and seven of nine overall. Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves for Edmonton, which has now lost 16 of their last 17 road games.

The Blue Jackets held a 2-1 lead after two periods and went up by a pair on Methot's tally 40 seconds into the third. Penner quickly cut the deficit to 3-2 when he beat Mason through the five-hole from in close at 4:07 before Huselius restored Columbus' two-goal advantage with a slap shot from the top of the left circle that squeezed through Dubnyk at 6:36.

Edmonton made it a 4-3 game just over a minute later on Johnson's third goal of the season, on a rebound attempt from the slot. Columbus then used a strong forechecking effort to limit the Oilers chances the rest of the way and with Dubnyk pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Vermette sealed it with an empty net tally with 55 seconds to play.

Columbus opened the scoring with 5:25 left in the first period off an Edmonton turnover. Derick Brassard intercepted an Oilers' clearing attempt and sent a cross-ice pass to Voracek, who one-timed it home from the right circle.

Nilsson then drew Edmonton even 1:52 into the middle stanza when Taylor Chorney picked off a Blue Jackets outlet pass and fed Nilsson for quick wrist shot that beat Mason to the short side.

However, Clark took a feed from Huselius and fired a wrister over Dubnyk's glove hand from the slot to give Columbus a 2-1 lead at 4:30 of the middle period.

Game Notes

Columbus captain Rick Nash missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury...Blue Jackets defenseman Jan Hejda suffered a right leg injury in the first period and did not return...Columbus took the season series over the Oilers with a 3-1 mark.

Sportcasinogamble Hockey Betting News


<< Knicks finally win two straight, top struggling Sixers
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danilo Gallinari finished with 21 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 94-84 victory over the struggling Philadelphia 76ers. Rookie Toney Douglas added 20 points and seven assists for

<< Devils hold on to edge Bruins
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Parise scored the eventual game-winner late in the first period, as the New Jersey Devils held off the Boston Bruins, 3-2, at Prudential Center. David Clarkson had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who

<< Ducks' Selanne, Getzlaf undergo MRIs
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anaheim Ducks forwards Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf underwent MRIs on Monday for injuries sustained in Sunday's 4-2 win over San Jose. Selanne, who scored career goal No. 599 in the victory, suffered an

<< Detroit F Prince suffers back injury
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince suffered an injury to his back and had to be assisted off the floor in the first quarter of Monday's game against the Boston Celtics. With 4:53 remaining in the qu

<< Broncos release QB Simms
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos on Monday released quarterback Chris Simms in the wake of the acquisition of Brady Quinn. On Sunday, the Broncos acquired Quinn from the Browns in exchange for fullback Peyton Hill

Seahawks release Grant, re-signed Tapp >>
Kirkland, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Seahawks released safety Deon Grant and re-signed defensive end Darryl Tapp Monday. Grant ranked among the team leaders in tackles in each of his three seasons with the club, including a

Seton Hall women's hoops coach Mangina steps down >>
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phyllis Mangina, head women's basketball coach at Seton Hall, has resigned, the school announced Monday. Mangina has spent the last 25 seasons in the position at her alma mater, and compiled a 352-36

Hot-shooting Celtics rout Pistons >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce was one of three Boston players to record 15 points and the Celtics surged to a big halftime lead before beating the short-handed Detroit Pistons, 119-93, at TD Garden. Ray Allen and Michael Fin

Nadal and Djokovic sneak into fourth round at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 2 Novak Djokovic barely survived his third-round match Monday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour Masters event, while world No. 3 Rafael Nadal cruised in two sets against Croati

Rangers' Hamilton leaves game with hand injury >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton exited Monday night's Cactus League game against the San Francisco Giants in the third inning after taking a pitch off his left hand. Giants pitcher Madison B

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.